Through the years, many women suffer from urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence, or pelvic prolapse – conditions that can become chronic and reduce their quality of life.

Fifty percent of women will have a bladder infection at least once in their life. For urinary incontinence, about 35 to 40 percent of women experience this condition, and prolapse will happen to about 15 to 20 percent of women, said Dr. Philippe Zimmern, Professor of Urology at UT Southwestern.

To support women’s urologic health research – and hopefully lead to new and better treatments – the Felecia and John Cain Chair in Women’s Health, in Honor of Philippe Zimmern, M.D. has been established. The inaugural holder is Dr. Zimmern.

I wish that I could just take Dr. Zimmern and multiply him all over the country – that is really my dream, said Felecia Cain. The Cain Foundation has established other endowments at UT Southwestern, in addition to this newest one.

In 1994, Mrs. Cain was diagnosed with the bladder condition interstitial cystitis. Over five years, she saw multiple doctors for chronic pain, but felt little relief until she was referred to Dr. Zimmern. Like many other patients he had treated, Dr. Zimmern discovered, Mrs. Cain had been misdiagnosed.

I think previous doctors had a preconceived idea about what I had based on past medical exams. But with Dr. Zimmern, I felt like he listened to me,” she said. “When I first went to him, he treated me with as much kindness, professionalism, and grace as he does today.

After tests ruled out interstitial cystitis, Dr. Zimmern determined that Mrs. Cain had other urology issues. Since receiving the proper diagnosis, Mrs. Cain has recommended Dr. Zimmern to other women, who have experienced relief as well.

Later, the Cain Foundation along with Mrs. Cain’s husband, John, established the Felecia Cain Fellowship to attract and train other doctors wishing to specialize in women’s health related to urology, a urological subspecialty also known as female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery and that requires passing a board exam.

With the success of the two-year fellowship program, the Cain Foundation sought another way to support Dr. Zimmern’s work. A donation established the new chair, allowing Dr. Zimmern to focus more on translational research.

Dr. Zimmern has various research collaborations in the works, including with UT Arlington on a project to detect and repair vaginal prolapse in early stages, with UT Dallas to study urinary incontinence related to aging and multiple childbirths, and with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate treatment for antibiotic-resistant urinary tract infections, or UTIs. Among the NIH projects, Dr. Zimmern is looking closer at recurrent UTIs in postmenopausal and diabetic women. One of the problems researchers are trying to combat is antibiotic resistance, which has made it difficult to treat bladder infections in women as they age.

The antibiotics we give to women have been given since the 1960s and have run their course. People have developed allergies and resistance to them. We have patients for whom nothing works anymore, so we’re desperately looking for other forms of treatments for these infections, he said.

Dr. Zimmern is hopeful the support from the Cain Foundation will encourage more health organizations to support urology research.

I am personally enormously indebted to the Cains and the Cain Foundation for all that they have done for me because since we met and they’ve started to support my academic work, both teaching and research, my life has really been transformed for the better. Every day I come here and I am thankful for what they have done for me, he said.